radicalisation and recruitment. Cheap, borderless and uncontrolled, the world wide web provided an ideal environment for extremist groups to proliferate. Initially, the response, by governments and private sector companies providing online platforms, was to eliminate or ban any appearance or sign of radical content online4. However, the growing use and development of discussion forums on the dark web; exploitation of small social media websites, and eventually social networks, proved to be faster than it was possible that any restrictive or monitoring action could be. The development of social media has proved to be a particularly important element in this dynamic. It has expanded the spaces and lowered the risks of contacting people who are targeted by radicalisation. Studies show that individuals have been targeted due to certain vulnerabilities, such as exposure to inequality, exclusion, gender dynamics, age, or propension to feel “something is missing”5 from their lives. Social media has allowed radical groups to gather supporters who otherwise would not have been able to come together. Yet, it appears that online radicalisation is rarely a stand alone strategy but rather a complement to classic face-to-face recruitment6. The growing accessibility to the internet however means that it cannot be ignored, as it could become an even more serious threat in the future if not counteracted. Vulnerabilities for online radicalisation are present in any society, therefore, it could be assumed that online radicalisation could happen within any geographical region with Internet access. Europe finds itself facing this risk, at the end 2017 there were more than seven hundred million Internet users from the region, the biggest numbers after Asia7. This exposure has alarmed many countries in Europe and put the spotlight on the need to take action at national and regional level using the support of both local communities as well as the private sector. Most research findings identify Muslims as a specific target of radicalisation online. They are both a target for recruitment and a victim of terrorist attacks. Muslims communities are composed of a growing young population in Europe8 making it imperative to consider the influence of islamophobia and the overall political environment as possible factors for some individuals to be radicalised. In Kundnani, A (2012). ‘Radicalisation:The Journey of a Concept’. Race & Class. 54(2): 3-25. Alarid, M (2016). ‘Recruitment and Radicalization: The Role of Social Media and New Technology’. [Online] https://bit.ly/2DrMJgz. Accessed Aug 2018. 6 Schmidt, A (2013). ‘Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review’. [Online] https://bit.ly/2dOp7WY. Accessed Aug 2018 7 Internet World Stats (2018). [Online] https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats4.htm. Accessed Sep 2018 8 Pew Research Center (2017). ‘Europe’s Growing Muslim Population’. [Online] https://pewrsr.ch/2nho0nj. Accessed Aug 2018 4 5
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